Forging and Paving a Future: Immigrant Status and Academic Achievement in Luxembourg

In the United States, much has been written about the upward or downward social mobility of the so-called, “New Second Generation”. In Europe, this topic has only recently begun to take shape; mostly in regard to the Netherlands, Germany, France and the UK. In the context of Luxembourg, however, there is very little literature on this topic even though nearly 50% of its population is now of immigrant status. Though small in geography and population, Luxembourg is a founding member of the E.U. and quite literally in the heart of continental Europe. It hosts a diverse set of immigrant groups, continuously attracting economic and some political immigrants, most notably from Italy, the former Yugoslavia and Portugal. Each of these groups arriving at a specific sociohistorical moment: Italians at the height of the steel industry, former Yugoslavians fleeing war, and Portuguese to meet construction and service industry needs. Consequently, Luxembourg is truly a multilingual and multicultural country that makes for a fascinating microcosm to test and explore existing theories of immigrant integration. Its context presents a unique opportunity to study and extrapolate from to anticipate the needs of immigrants elsewhere.
Using 2016 data from Luxembourg’s school monitoring programme (ÉpStan), we investigate existing and emerging differences in academic achievement among 1st, 2nd, and later generation immigrant groups in Luxembourg. We analyse math and language proficiencies (German and French) among a cohort of secondary school students (9th grade, N=6286). Preliminary results indicate clear generational differences. These are interpreted in relation to immigrant group characteristics and acculturation in Luxembourg. Implications for the new second generation in the European context will be discussed.